


Tale as Old as Time

by CotyCat82



Category: Agent Carter - Fandom, Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Gen, Steggy Positivity Week 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-10-28 04:43:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 15,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10824000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CotyCat82/pseuds/CotyCat82
Summary: A Steggy Retelling of Beauty and the Beast





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairytale. I collect different versions of it in print and other media forms. And it's always been a story near and dear to my heart. After seeing the most recent live action version of it in theaters, I was inspired to play with it's well-known and well-loved mythos by turning it into a Steggy story - a couple that truly has an amazing mythos of their own. 
> 
> The story is written in its entirety, but it's not fully edited yet. I am posting the Prologue and the first chapter together, but going forward I will try to post a chapter a week (life permitting) until the story is complete.

Once upon a time, in the not so distant past, a young boy lived in obscurity in the big city. Although he had nothing and was small and sick and weak, he was kind, good and brave. With a heart bigger and stronger than his tiny, frail body should have contained. But then on the eve of war, a scientist found this boy and gave him the gift of a serum, which made his body as strong and beautiful as his heart. And the boy, now a man, went off to the war of the trenches.

In a battle with his nemesis, the Red Skull, the man was hit with a gas. It left his outside beautiful, but weakened his moral compass. The gas had enhanced all his hatred and anger at the unjust and inhumane war. He became angry, cynical and selfish. The opposite of the beacon of hope he’d been before.

Unwilling to let a good man be lost, the scientist appeared again and injected the man with a second serum. It made the man look frail and small and weak once more, although he was not. But the scientist had given the man a chance. A chance to rediscover the goodness inside him.

He tied the second serum to the man’s compass, hoping it would help remind him to find his course again. Suspended in frozen water, the face of the compass would begin to fade and decay over time. The man had until the compass could no longer show north to find his way back to himself.

If he could be a true partner to someone, and find the right partner in return, the second serum would activate and his body would grow strong once more to befit his return to a beautiful heart. If the man could not, he would remain small and frail, doomed to turn as sickly and ill in body as he had become in heart.

The scientist then locked the man and his loyal troops away in the fortress they had captured from the Red Skull, as the gas had affected them all too. Their only hope to be well again was tied to the man returning to himself.

Over time, the world would come to forget the solider and his men. Hidden in the forgotten fortress, and seemingly lost to memory, the man fell into despair. How could he hope to be good again? Because who could ever show him, once more, which way was true north?


	2. Camp

Fetch the coffee.  
Type the reports.  
Play secretary.

Life on the base camp had been much the same for Peggy since she’d arrived. More skilled and talented than most of the men, she’d still been sidelined to “women’s work.” Not allowed to truly fight and slay the dragons she’d dreamed of as a child. Were it not for Phillips, who’d seen something in her and taken a chance on her, she wouldn’t have been doing anything productive at all. He’d kept her at codes breaking and intelligence work, and even occasionally somehow got her in field for “lesser” assignments.

But it never felt like enough to Peggy. She wanted to do her part for the war effort. She wanted to do her part beyond it and make the world a better place. She wanted to honor her brother who told her she was meant to fight.

The other people in the camp found her to be odd she knew; for practicing her shooting and doing her calisthenics and reading every piece of intel that came through. And while she kept herself immaculate - hair neat, nails painted, and lips red - Peggy knew she wasn’t like all of the other girls serving with her. 

She’d just spent her morning drilling a round of new troops. Fresh from boot camp, and mostly Yanks, they didn’t understand that their uniforms didn’t make them soldiers in anything but appearance.

“What’s with the accent, Queen Victoria?” One man snarked, as she’d launched into her opening instructions.

Annoyed, but unwilling to show it, she asked for his name.

“Gilmore Hodge, your majesty.”

She told him to step forward.

He complied. “We gonna wrassle?” He quipped, winking at her. “Cause I got a few moves I know you’ll like.”

She decked him without a second thought. Then ordered him back in line, before setting him and his comrades off on a grueling 10 mile trek. She spent the rest of her day putting them through their paces, and being bored out her mind. Sending them back to their tents, dirty and exhausted in the early evening, Peggy headed to the command tent hoping to find at least one productive thing to do that day.

“Carter,” Phillips said gruffly as she’d entered. “You’re late.”

“I wasn’t expected, sir, so I think that means I’m early.”

Phillips’ lip pulled back in a twitch, which was the closest he ever came to a smile.

“I’ve been called to a meeting at HQ. Looks like the brass found some stuff at the last Hydra base they want us to have a look at.”

“Sir, I can be packed to go in less than 10 minutes.”

“Not necessary Agent, Private Roden is going as my driver.”

“But sir, I’m the expert on Hydra…”  

“Relax, Carter. I’m picking it up and bringing it back for you to review. It’s a lot of coded papers and books apparently. And it’s going to take a while to decode and sort. Too much time for you to be out of camp, especially since I don’t want to come back and find a smoking crater where my army base should be.”

“Sir?”

“I’m leaving you in charge. You’re to hold down all the administrative duties while I’m away. Any real fighting would fall to the boys, but since we’re well behind lines and waiting on orders, unless something changes you’re running the show.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

“Just don’t let it go to your head, Carter. Or let it wear you out, I suspect I’m gonna be bringing plenty back for you to do, so make sure you're well-rested. And while I don’t mind you breakin’ in the troops when needed, do try to keep it at a minimum while I’m away.”

“Yes, sir.” She said, knowing Phillips had somehow heard about Hodge. It was hardly Peggy’s first time knocking someone insubordinate into the dirt.

Suddenly softening, Phillips asked, “Would you like me to bring ya anything back? HQ likely has a PX with more stuff than we’ll ever see out this way.”

Peggy would have loved to ask for a whole slew of things. It was hard to acquire just about everything during the war, especially any female necessities. But she was scared to ask for anything too feminine for fear of appearing weak, so she’d shock her head to the negative.

Eyeing her ruefully, Phillips asked, “How about some lipstick? If I can find any.”

“I wouldn’t object to that, sir,” Peggy told him honestly with a small smile.  

“Red?” He confirmed.

“Yes, sir.” She affirmed, wondering why anyone would bother with another color.  

The next morning, Philips departed with Roden as his driver leaving the camp to Peggy’s care and command.

####

“What’s the deal with a woman in charge?” Hodge asked his bunkmates as he settled in. “And a British broad at that. You think she’s liaisoning with the Colonel to get a chance like that?”

“Na,” one of Hodge’s tentmate said from his cot. “It ain’t like that.” This private had been in camp for a while and gave Hodge the scoop that Carter was Phillips’ right hand. “Competent as hell that one.”

“And a real ball-breaker.” His other comrade chimed in. “Which is a shame. She’s the prettiest damn girl in camp. Be nice if she was a little softer. A little more sensitive to a fightin’ man’s needs, if ya know what I mean.”

Hodge asked more questions about Carter. Her background. Her experience.

“You sweet on her or something?” His bunkmate finally asked. “Because I gotta tell you, you’re barking up the wrong tree there.”

“Or something,” Hodge said, hearing the call for supper and following his tentmates to the mess. He’d heard about Carter before his arrival in camp and had deliberately tested her out a bit today during drill. Now it seemed, he’d also have to go to the trouble of pulling and reading her file.

She could be a greater obstacle than he first thought.


	3. Fortress

“I think we’re lost.” Private Roden said, pulling the jeep to a stop so he could dig through the pile of maps in the passenger seat.

Phillips replied sardonically, “You don’t say.”

They’d been driving around the woods for hours. The Colonel had been starting to wonder if perhaps returning to a camp on fire would have been worth it to have Carter, and her general competency here, instead of the well-meaning, but less able Private.

He’d been just about to lean forward to take hold of the maps himself, when they’d heard the sounds of the planes above them. And the bombs they were dropping hitting the road.

“Drive!!!” He yelled. “Drive. Drive.”

The Private kicked the car into gear and they were off like a shot, trying to stay ahead of the bombers. Realizing that was going to be damn near impossible, Phillips ordered the Private to pull off road for the cover of the forest. The jeep bounced and lurched over the terrain, moving as quickly as possible deeper into the woods and away from the bombs. Their teeth rattled as the car slammed up and down.

Then to make matters worse, it had started to rain. And then, shockingly for June, to snow. They’d driven on for what felt like hours, but couldn’t have possibly been. Yet, the sky had been getting dark. And they seemingly suddenly had been nearly out of gas. It was freezing. And there’d been a static charge in the air.

Everything just felt wrong. The hairs on the back of his neck standing up, Phillips ordered Roden to stop the jeep. Looking about, the smoking road they’d been on before was nowhere in sight. They were even more lost than they’d been before the bombing. And with the open-top jeep, they were now exposed to the elements to boot.

“What’s that up ahead? Do you see that?” The Private asked, pointing forward.

Phillips, who’d been leaning over to reach for the sopping wet maps in the front seat, looked up and did see something. Something very unexpected. An old fortress. The kind set up after the great war. Hell, this one looked old enough to be from the Napoleonic wars. It was large and dark and foreboding. And not on any of their maps.

“I think I see lights inside.”  

“I think you’re right,” Phillips said, more than surprised and slightly concerned. What if it was the enemy?

But the snow had been intensifying. Everything was starting to white out. Faced with having to choose death by the elements or potential capture from the enemy, Phillips choose survival and ordered them both inside.

####

“Look! People.”

“Shh! Yes, I can see that it’s people.”

“What are they doing here? And in uniform?”

“Christ, the war can’t still be going on, can it?”

“I doubt that. The uniforms are different than the ones we wore.”

“Well, they need to wear them somewhere else. If the Captain finds them here…” Sam turned and found that he was talking to no one. Bucky was gone.

“Damn it,” Sam said, leaping down from the shelf he’d been perched on. Watching in horror as the fire lite up for the two interlopers and the table appeared to be setting itself.

“Hello?” The younger man called out, seeing the fire and moving towards it instinctively to warm up. “Hello? is there anyone here?”

“Quiet.” The older man said shushing him, and moving his hand over his sidearm. ‘We don’t know if our hosts are on our side or not.”

“They are on the side of not letting us freeze to death. Or to starve. Look at that table!” The young man exclaimed. His face lit up at the variety and plethora of food. He’d been on rations for years now and had lived through the depression before that. He was in a chair and chomping away on the extravagant meal without a second thought to orders, protocol or command.

The older man took longer to join in, but eventually sat down, succumbing to the temptation of the first steak he’d seen in over a year. The two soldiers had eaten quietly and quickly, before having a brief discussion of if they should seek out their host.

Sam gasped at the notion, but then saw Bucky fluttering about. Piling up some warm clothing, tanks of gas and cans of food by the door before disappearing back into the shadows. And, thank god, the wayward soldiers seemed to take the hint. They’d gathered up the supplies and called out a thanks to their unknown host.

But just before they’d left, the older man saw something on a side table that caught his eye. It was a basket full of odds and ends collected over the years. The man pulled something from it and held it up to the light. It was a tube of lipstick that he’d twisted open. Seeing that it was a dark red, without really thinking, the Colonel pulled some money from his pocket he’d intended to leave in exchange for it. Much more than the cosmetic was worth.

But that hadn’t stopped the irate scream from the stairwell above them. Or the primarily color metal disk to come flying down the steps. The Colonel pulled his gun and fired, but the bullets had bounced right off the metal saucer. A man appeared behind it. He was small and weak looking. But the way he’d sprung down the steps in a few bounds and lifted the Colonel by his neck with one hand, indicated he was a hell of a lot more fit than he seemed.  

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” The man, despite being small, boomed at Phillips in a deep, strong voice.

“We’re allied troops, lost in the woods.” The younger man said, weapon drawn and aimed.

Without even looking at the young soldier and without releasing Phillips, the small man threw the disk again knocked the gun from the Private's hands. “You’re not welcome here!” He’d roared at them.

“We’ll leave then.” Phillips squeaked through the choke-hold.

“What are you starting at?” The man screamed, suddenly dropping the Colonel to reel on the Private, who’d been standing dumbfounded behind him.   

“Nothing, I’m not-"

While the man was distracted by Roden, Phillips made his move, grabbing a heavy vase on a window seal and slamming it over the man’s head. It shattered, but hardly seemed to affect him other than making him even angrier.

“I’ll show you how we handle trespassers and thieves here! You, out!” He screamed at Roden, as he pushed him through the doorway. The Private literally flew backward at the tiny man’s light touch.

“Don’t come back!” The man screamed from behind the closing door.  

“Colonel? Colonel!” The Private screamed from outside in the dark and the cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So while I'm playing fast and loose with what they would have been, forts from Napoleonic times and WW1 were a thing. I wanted to place Steve and the Howling Commandos in one, as they likely would have fought to take a fort or fought to keep one during WW1. And it just seemed more interesting and appropriate for the story than a castle. 
> 
> If you're a history geek like I am, here are some resources if you want to learn more about them. They are sort of fascinating:  
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maginot_Line
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlieffen_Plan


	4. Prisoner

 “They are late,” Peggy said by way of explanation to the Major.

“By a few hours.”

“Yes, in a war zone. Without radioing in. They may just be delayed, but if something wasn’t seriously wrong they would have contacted us.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. We’ll give them a few more hours…” The petulant Major replied.

“We’ll do nothing of the kind. Colonel Phillips and Private Roden are missing in action and I’m ordering you to launch a search party. We-” Before Peggy could continue to berate the uncooperative officer, the Colonel’s jeep pulled into camp, but only a disheveled Private stumbled out from it.

“Agent Carter,” Roden cried upon seeing her, running up to Peggy and the Major who’d been standing outside the command tent. “He has him. He has the Colonel!”

“Who has the Colonel?” Peggy questioned, taking the unsteady Roden by the arm and leading him inside. She didn’t want the conversation to be overheard and cause any kind of panic in the camp.

“The little guy with the red, white and blue disk thing. We got off-roaded by bombs and had to take shelter in the fortress. There was a fire and food. And then the Colonel took a lipstick, which he tried to pay for. But the little guy came out of nowhere and he was so strong, despite his size….”

It had taken nearly a half an hour to calm Roden down. But even as he’d settled, his story hadn’t changed. He and the Colonel had driven off the road to escape an air raid and stumbled across an old fortress, one most decidedly not on any of their maps, and sought shelter within. A mysterious fire and dinner had appeared out of nowhere, and then supplies had just suddenly been at the door for them. They’d been leaving when the Colonel had reached for something on a side board, a tube of lipstick, and then a tiny, but strong many with a multi-colored metal disk for a weapon had tossed Roden out, literally on his butt, and taken the Colonel prisoner.

The men, of course, had dismissed nearly all of Roden’s story from the beginning. Roden was a competent, but smaller statured man, perceived as weaker by the other soldiers. So his story was written off as the hysterics of a wimp left out too long in the elements.

But Peggy knew and respected Roden, who she’d often worked with. And she believed him and his retelling. But that did her little good, as the Major began preparing a Search and Rescue for the Colonel that would completely ignore Roden’s intel on just where the fortress he’d seen was located.  

And Peggy couldn’t overrule that foolhardy decision. Her command extended to camp operations, not military matters which an S&R was. But it wasn’t the first time in her career, or life, that Peggy had to work around stubborn men.

After they’d sent out a search party, Peggy visited the medical tent where Roden had been taken. With maps in hand, she had the Private back track his route as well as possible.

Doing the math on mileage, Peggy estimated a 5-mile radius where she’d assumed they could have run out of gas and that matched the terrain Roden had described. She packed some supplies and checked out a motorbike from the vehicle pool, before heading out to search for Phillips herself.

###

Peggy’s guess work had been pretty accurate. She’d found the jeep’s track in her serach area. They’d been frozen in snow and ice that was unseasonable, and a surprise to see considering how warn camp was. She’d followed them as new snow started to come down around her. Peggy pulled her collar up, grateful that the leather jacket had a fur lining. The trail had nearly disappeared before she found the fortress, exactly as Roden had described it.

And she’d bunkered down to watch it. Waiting for signs of life, signs of guards, motion, or danger. But in the hour or so she’d observed it, nothing happened. Not a thing. The temperatures were getting dangerously low, so Peggy had no choice but to attempt to retrieve the Colonel without any intel on the place.

And, more annoyingly, use the front door as there seemed to be no other entrance.

#######

“A girl!” Buck exclaimed, loud enough to cause Peggy to turn her torch about in an effort to search out the voice.

“Whose there?” She cried out. “Hello?”

Bucky made to speak again, but a handle covered his mouth. Sam had slid right alongside him to watch the women search about in the dark. More quietly, he’d exclaimed as well. “A girl!”

Peggy’s continued to wave her torch about, but unable to see the source of the voice, moved further into the fortress.

Once Peggy had turned the corner, Bucky lit himself up to knock Sam’s handle off him.

“Ouch!” Sam cried out, his metal frame growing hot.

Ignoring him, Bucky asked with hopeful shock. “Do you think she could be the one? The one to set us all free!” Before taking off after the woman.

They’d tried to stay discreetly back as they followed her. But she clearly sensed their presence, occasionally turning suddenly and shining her light about to try and catch them.

It was their prisoner’s cough that helped Peggy find her way to Phillips. You could hear it echoing off the cold, stone walls.

 “Colonel!” She’d exclaimed in a whisper when she’d found him locked in a tiny, dirty, stone cell. He’d stretched his arm through the grating as soon as he saw her.

“Carter! How the hell did you find me?”

“Your hands are like ice!” Peggy exclaimed, covering his with her one warmer one, while using her other to dig for her lock picking tools. 

“You need to get out of here, right now. Carter-”

“Nonsense, I’ve not gone to all this trouble to leave without you,” Peggy replied, working the lock with skilled practice. It popped and the door swung open. But it had slammed shut hard again a moment later, knocking the Colonel down when a flying primary colored metal disk rammed it shut.

Peggy turned and saw the man behind her, as he’d stepped forward and pulled the cord of an overhead light. He was small and sickly looking. Pale and frail, with arms like sticks and clothing that seemed to hang off of him. But Peggy’d been trained to look past that. He may be tiny, but he was in fighting stance. And his eyes, bright, startlingly blue, were intelligent and watchful. And despite his stature, his hands looked strong and capable.

Small as he was Peggy knew an adversary when she saw one. But there was something else to him too. He seemed familiar in some way she couldn’t quite place.

“Another trespasser, I see.” The man said in a deep, strong voice that didn’t fit his body. “Who are you?”

“Agent Margaret Carter. Strategic Scientific Reserve. 01 06 1520. I am here to secure the release of Colonel Chester Phillips, also of the SSR.”

The man’s eyes slated as he watched her. Peggy knew better than to attempt to reach for her sidearm with a gaze like that on her.

“The Colonel is my prisoner.”

“Of war?”

“Of theft.”

“Over a lipstick?”

“It wasn’t his to take,” The man said, stepping forward and moving his metal disk like it was a shield in front of his body. The way he’d held it in one hand spoke of practiced familiarity and skill. The saucer, whatever it was, was a weapon the likes of which Peggy had not seen before.

“You’re right. It was not. But it was meant to be a gift for me. A kindness. The Colonel was wrong to take it, but please don’t put the war effort as risk over a small indiscretion that was on my behalf.”

“War effort,” The man sneered, “More death and dying. Men like him ordering others to their graves. Keeping him here would save lives.”

“I assure you it would not,” Peggy fired back. “The Nazis have committed unspeakable crimes against humanity. There are camps….”

“Carter!” Phillips warned behind her.

“Nazis…” The man said, testing the word out as if he’d never heard it before. There was sudden motion behind the small man from the shadows. And he’d stepped back into the darkness to have an exchanged with the others that Peggy knew had been trailing her, but she’d not been able to sight.  

There’d been soft whispering, too quiet to make out, before the man said, “All right. All right. Fine. Fine!” Stepping forward again, he offered,  “An exchange then if the man’s freedom means so much. You for him.”

“No!” Phillips cried behind Peggy.

More whispering behind the man. But this time, Peggy could make it out. “Assure her she’ll not be harmed.” “That she will be made comfortable.”

“You’ll be treated okay,” The man said indifferently.

“Done, then,” Peggy replied without another thought.

“No!” Phillips yelled behind her. “I’m your commanding officer and responsible for your safety.  And I’m ordering you to get out of here, Carter. Now!”

She’d turned to the Colonel, but kept an eye on the small man. “I’m trading a Colonel for an Agent, sir. It’s the right strategic decision. You are more valuable than I am. Besides, it’s my vanity that landed you here in the first place.” Leaning in closer, right against his ear she’d spoken in their coded language. “I’ll escape. You know I can and I will.”

Phillips pulled back and looked Peggy hard in the eye, clearly ready to argue again, but the little man stepped forward. Pushing Peggy aside, he yanked Phillips from the cell with a surprising display of force.

“Take him out of here. Send him on his way,” The man called into the shadows. And then Phillips was just gone. Peggy moved to one of the windows and saw him dragged out front, by seemingly invisible hands and dumped into the back of something that looked like a tank from the first Great War.

It had all barely registered when the man behind her called her attention back by asking for her side arm and supply kit. She’d handed them over and then stepped into the open cell Phillips had just vacated.

There was more whispering from the shadows. “A room.” One of the disembodied voice said. “Offer her one of the old officers’ rooms.”

“She’ll be more comfortable there.” Another distinctive voice chimed in.  
  
Sighing, the little man lifted the metal disk over his head and strapped it onto his back somehow, and said, "this way.”

“But I thought…”

“Do you want to stay in the dungeon or would you prefer an actual bed? Your call.”

“Bed, please.”

“This way then.” The man walking off and clearly expecting her to follow suit. Peggy made note of her surroundings, looking for means and ways of escape for future use. The fortress was clearly an old military base, but one that must have housed a good number of officers. There were creature comforts and a good number of general rooms. Everything seems surprisingly clean and orderly from what she could tell in the dark.

“You can move about anywhere in the compound that you’d like, but the watch tower.”

Peggy remained silent at that but made note to check the tower out if she couldn’t manage to escape right away.

The tiny man stopped suddenly in front of a door. It must have been a high-ranking officer’s quarters at some point. It was large and well appointed. It had both a sitting room, and from what Peggy could see, a bedroom and bath facilities as well.

“Dinner,” One of the invisible voices chimed in again. “Ask her to dinner.”

“You’ll join me for dinner,” The man said in an annoyed tone, before suddenly turning angry. “That’s not a request,” He declared, before leaving Peggy to her room, slamming the door behind him.

Scoping out her surroundings, the first thing Peggy noticed was the thick bars on the narrow windows. The man had taken her up to a room several stories above ground level. Much too high to try and make an escape at night in unfamiliar terrain.   

It looked like Peggy was going to have to bide her time a bit.


	5. Guest

Peggy was rutting about various drawers, seeing what she could commandeer when there was a gentle knock on the door. One of the voices she’d heard from before asked politely if they could come in. Straighten up to greet them, Peggy told them that was fine.

And then nearly fainted dead away when an overly large Zippo lighter and a pair of wire cutters walked into the room and greeted her.

####

Phillips rolling into camp in a WWI tank made quite the commotion. As had his zany story, which mirrored Private Roden’s.  The Coronel insisted that Peggy rescued him from a small, strong man with a patriotic Frisbee.

The other soldiers laughed and called for duel psych evaluations, while Hodge watched the events unfold before quietly returning to his tent. He had a lot to think about.  

####

“Remarkable,” Peggy said, flicking Bucky’s flame on.

He giggled slightly, tickled at her touch, before wiggling himself free from Peggy’s grasp. She reached out to pick up Sam, again, but he’d step back from her. She’d already clipped up a good section of the curtains with him, testing him out. And Sam knew the Captain would be pissed about that.

“How is this possible? Any of this?”

“Well, that’s a long story we can’t really get into. Let’s just say we had an exchange with some Germans and didn’t come out the other end of it so well,” Bucky told her, closing his lid with a snap.

“Did Hydra do this to you? Let me take you back to base with me. We have scientist that can help, or at least try.”

“That’s kind.” Sam said, “But I’m afraid we can’t leave.”

“Why? Is he keeping you here against your will too?”

“No, No. The Captain is just as much of a victim in this as we are.”

“He’s a Captain? In the Military? You’re joking.”

Before Sam, the wire cutters, or Bucky, the lighter, could reply, a cricket noisemaker slide into the room. “Afraid not. And he’s not as bad as he seems.” Clicking briefly at her, he’d introduced himself as DumDum Dugan, taking Peggy’s hand and clicking it as if to kiss it.

‘I’d beg to differ.” Peggy replied, picking up DumDum and giving him the once over too.

“You really just need to give him a chance.” Bucky chimed in.

“Perhaps, over dinner…” Sam added.

“I’m not eating with him.” Peggy practically shouted, “I’d rather starve.”

Shaking himself so violently, his lid came off, Bucky said, “No. No. Please. You have too!”

####

“She’s late.” Steve huffed, pacing back and forth in the dining room. It was easily the ugliest room in the fortress. The furniture, heavy and ornate, was meant to impress and intimidate.

“The woman just gave up her freedom. And discovered parts from a survival pack can talk.” Howard said, rolling himself across the table. “You’ve got to be patient.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “I don’t have to do anything.”

“Yes. Yes, you do.” Howard said bouncing across the floor and onto the mantle to be level with Steve’s face. “We’re all trapped by this. Time is running out. The compass’ face is fading. Fast. And it’s not just you that would be doomed. You owe us this. You have to at least try.”

Looking away angrily, Steve said through clenched teeth, “fine.”

And Howard felt himself let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. The fact that Steve agreed to try at all was a sign. A very good sign, since the gas had rendered his once selfless friend into such self-centered creature.

“Great. Now all you have to do is woo her. Be charming. Be debonair.”

“I didn’t know how to do that before the gas,” Steve said. Once there would have been a tone of self-deprecation to his words, perhaps to hide his embarrassment. But now it just rang as a statement of fact.

“Well, take a cue from my playbook then, pal.” Howard said, “A flashing smile and a suave demeanor, and a…”

“Slap on the cheek. Howard, it’s got to be more than a one night stand for this to work. You’re the last person who should be giving me advice.”

Before Howard could make a retort, the woman turned the corner into the dining room and screamed, “Grenade!!!!!!”

####

Once Howard had been picked up and examined too. And once he’d gotten to flirt good and well, and Peggy had been assured he wouldn’t randomly detonate, Peggy and Steve sat down across from each other at the long table.

After outright refusing to eat with the Captain, Peggy not so much softened to Bucky’s and Sam’s pleas, as it had occurred to her that it might be beneficial to learn more about her jailer. But as it turned out, agreeing to dine with the Captain had been more beneficially to her appetite than anything else.

It had been a long, damn time since Peggy had seen such a plethora and variety of food. Fresh vegetables. Juicy steaks. Chocolate. Peggy meant to not touch anything as some form of protest but instead ended up gorging herself on the table’s offerings. Which seemed to appear out of nowhere. Magically cutlery and plates running across the table, as wondrous as the talking pieces of the survival packet.

For his part, her capture, the Captain, ate with as much relish as she did. Downing an amount of food that should not have left his arms so skinny or his collar bone so prominent.  

The Captain seemed happy enough to remain as silent as she was, until Bucky, the lighter, whispered something in his ear. Which the Captain tried to ignore. Bucky then tried tapping on the Captain’s hand, before flicked himself on and burning the Captain’s fingers in annoyed desperation. 

“Your room. It’s….okay?” The Captain asked, shaking his burned hand and glaring at the Zippo lighter.

“For a prison cell, it’s most comfortable.”

The Captain just blinked back at her unapologetically. “If there is anything that you want or need, my men are at your disposal.”

“And speaking of them, what…how…are they the way that they are?”

“I can’t say.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Both,” he replied, then after a moment added. “All I demand…” Sam appeared out of nowhere and poked at the Captain with his pointy end. “Ask. All that I ask, is that you join me for dinner every night. Otherwise, the grounds are yours to explore and your time belongs to you.”

“If all you wanted was a dinner companion, there were certainly better ways to go about finding one.”

“I’m afraid I’m seeking more than just a dinner companion.”

“What are you seeking then?” Peggy asked with some trepidation.

“A partner.”

She’d felt the full meaning of the word and everything it implied. Yet, the Captain was nearly devoid of emotion when he’d asked, “Would you be mine? My partner, I mean?”

“Are you actually giving me a choice?”

“Yes. Oh, Yes. It has to be completely your choice and of your free will.”

“Then my answer is no.”

The Captain nodded, looking neither surprised nor upset by her reply. “Goodnight then, Margaret.”

“Good night.” She said, retreating up the step to her room. Peggy briefly entertained the notion of trying to make her escape that night, but it was dark and late. And because despite what seemed to be an indifferent proposal of some kind, she’d not felt threatened by her tiny captor.

Plus it was snowing heavily outside. When she’d stood by the window, she could feel the cold seeping in through the pane. But the room was cozy with a fire burning in it before she’d even arrived. The bed was covered in thick blankets and furs. It would be prudent to wait until she knew the grounds better and it wasn’t pitch dark.

But still, something impulsive made her want to pop back into the hallway and at least have a look around. When Peggy tried to door though, she found it locked from the outside. A moment of panic washed over her, and she’d returned to the windows again to make an escape that way, but heavy shutters suddenly covered them.

Something was wrong with this place. Something that Peggy couldn’t name or understand. She spent a sleepless night in the big, comfortable bed with the sidearm she’d kept hidden from her captor in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So rather than turning the Howling Commandos into houseware, I opted to turn them into the various items that would have made up at WW2 survival pack. I hope it was clear in the writing, but of the Commandos we met so far, here is who is what: 
> 
> Bucky – Zippo Lighter  
> Sam – Wire Cutters  
> Howard – Grenade   
> DumDum – Cricket Noisemaker 
> 
> Here some information on what exactly what all of these items are: https://www.wired.com/2012/06/d-day-paratrooper-gear-gadgets/


	6. Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm offering this chapter up as my contribution to the 2017 Steggy Positivity Week, as the entire story is really an AU.
> 
> I've also finally broken down and gotten a tumblr. I'm cotyca82.tumblr.com. As I understand it, I'll have a better experience if I stay out of the tags and just follow some blogs. So if you post Steggy, Peggy or Hayley stuff, please let me know so I can follow you.

It took just over a week for Peggy to make her escape. In those few days in the fortress, she’d fallen into a sort of routine. Using the excuse of getting some exercise to walk about inside it and outside behind the safety of the walls, which seemed to be much further back from the main structure than she’d remembered when she arrived. There were pretty, seemingly out of place gardens that bloomed in the pleasant warmth of the day. Just what happened to them at night when it turned cold and dark and snowed each evening, Peggy’s never been able to see through her room’s windows which always shuttered themselves of their own accord when it got dark in this magical, but terrible place.

And the strange, changing weather was the least inexplicable phenomena of her prison. Peggy met the rest of the Captain’s men. All walking, talking objects from a survival pack with personalities and characters all their own. There was Gabe Jones the bundle light, Jim Morita the e-tool and seemingly fellow Brit James Falsworth, the switchblade.

Peggy wondered at first if it was some Hydra trick or hallucination that had her talking to inanimate objects. But even in her limited time there, she’d realize her intuition her first night trapped in the fortress was correct. Something wasn’t right in this place that went above and beyond her being held captive. Peggy loved a good mystery and had a war not been ragging, she might have opted to delve deeper.

But her first responsibility was to escape and return to her unit. Watching the routine in the fortress, she’d been keeping an eye open for any opportunity. It would have been easiest for her to try and leave during the day when she was allowed to walk outside. But she was watched then, by one or more of the magical people-objects. And the walls were high and the one and only door in the brick facade was heavy iron and always shut.

Her room’s windows opened into the sealed courtyard when they weren’t shuttered. But then there was the watchtower. High and built into the side of the fortress, it looked to Peggy as if you could drop out of its windows and land outside of the fortress’ walls. It would be a hell of a drop, but it looked possible with some planning. And she couldn’t help but think that was why she’d been forbidden to go into it by the Captain. He had to have known it was the best option for her to make an escape.

Her captor was an oddity. His unbelievable strength that his tiny body shouldn’t have been capable of was the least strange thing about him.  He was intelligent, strategic, with clear leadership skills and the ability to command. But his mood swings were giving her whiplash. He facilitated between attempting to be gracious one moment to so irritated with her presence the next that Peggy wondered at why he’d wanted to hold her prisoner at all.

One afternoon, he found her having tea in an alcove. Loose tea with real milk that she’d been savoring and lost in the enjoyment of. The Captain always moved so quietly, with such easy stealth, that Peggy would not likely have heard him coming even if she hadn’t been lost in the relish of the warm beverage. So when he greeted her, she’d been startled, spilling the tea. He’d flown into a rage, throwing that mental disk of his into a table and breaking it.

Peggy had not been so much afraid as annoyed at his childish behavior. Then stunned when a few hours later, he’d joined her for dinner, calm and collected. And when not seeing the spice cake she’d clearly enjoyed the night before on the table, he’d called for one of the servant objects to bring it to her. Polite to them and accommodating to her in a way that made him seem like a different man than the one who’d had the outburst earlier in the day.   

The Captain moved from talkative to sullen in mere seconds at no provocation. Quiet to enraged in a flash. Concerned about her comfort and preferences to indifferent at the drop of a hat. It was like he was in some kind of war with himself. One that she wasn’t privy too, but his survival pack, talking friends seemed to be in the know on. They calmed him and catered to him, and also tried to catch him before he flew off the handle. Showing him a loyalty that Peggy felt he was undeserving of.

It was during one of those outbursts that Peggy made her run for it. They’d been standing on one of the fort’s highpoints, overlooking its grounds. It had been warm and lovely. The grounds were covered with wildflowers and Peggy made an offhand remark about how beautiful they were, while the Captain had sneezed.

Looking him over, she’d realized he was either allergic or sick. His eyes were red-rimmed and he sounded a bit congested. Paying more attention, Peggy noticed that he’d also been having some trouble breathing.

“Are you quite alright?”

“I’m fine.” He said gruffly, before proving seconds later that he was not when he broke into a sneezing fit. After he recovered he said, “Perhaps I ought to have you to take a look at me.”

“Take a look at you?”

“You’re a nurse, aren’t ya?” He asked, wiping at his dripping nose.

“I most certainly am not.” Peggy snapped back, offended to her core at the notion that was all a woman in uniform could ever be. “And I resent the assumption.”

Voice turning cold and icy, he stepped closer to her and said, “And just what is wrong with being a nurse?”  If he was a larger man, he would have been looming over her, but as it was they were standing eye to eye. “It’s a time-honored, damn hard profession.”

Peggy not given him an inch, but she’d not been able to get a word in edgewise as he’d continued on angrily, “How dare you imply otherwise.”

Peggy had been witness to his outbursts before. So when he’d thrown that metal disk in his rage and it had actually gotten stuck into the wall, she’d not been taken aback. Or alarmed when the Captain had started pounding his fists into the wall. Actually shattering and denting the stone in places.  

Bucky and Sam appeared immediately to try to calm him, while DumDum slid up to Peggy to led her away. But the sound of the disk, slamming into the wall again sent DumDum running back to aid his friends. Telling Peggy to head to her room. Sensing this was going to be a long tantrum, Peggy made with the motions of going to her room. But noticing that all of the Captain’s men seemed to be gathered around him, decided instead that it was the time to make her escape.

####

“Stop. Stop.” DumDum cried, clicking away to try and get Steve’s attention. But Steve kept pounding on the walls with his fists, making them bleed even with all of his enhancements. In his rage, the Captain had seemed oblivious to everyone, until Bucky flicked himself on and burned Steve in the leg.

He cried out and tried to take a swip at Bucky, but Morita angled himself so the Captain tripped over his handle. He’d fallen over with a loud thud, indicating weight and bulk and strength that was no longer visible. Once on the ground, closer to their level, the tools formerly known as the Howling Commandos, could see the Captain wasn’t just red-faced in anger, but that he had tear streaks on his cheeks.

“What the hell happened?” Sam demanded.

“She- I-” Steve stuttered stupidly, starting to cry, suddenly heartbroken instead of angry. “My mother…..she was a nurse.”

“Okay….” Gabe Jones said, completely at a loss. The Captain had been prone to losing his cool at the drop of a hate since the gas and the second serum. But he’d always fascinated between blind anger and then utter indifference. Seeing him be anything else after all this time was strange. Even more so since before, when the Captain was himself, he’d always kept his emotions rolled in pretty tight. Scared to ever appear to be dumping them or taking them out on others.

Bucky and Sam exchange meaningful glances. Despite their friend’s distress, this was good sign. Another good sign that they’d all been watching for with guarded hope since Peggy had arrived. The cruelest thing about the gas Steve had been hit with, while saving all of their lives, was the innate kindness it had rob from him. Robbed from them all.

Their fate as metal objects had seemed nothing in comparison to the loss of Steve’s goodness. His care and concern not just from them, but for the world around him. Nothing they’d tried over the years had ever even made a dent in his indifference or anger. Not just to their plight, but to his.

So watching him over the past few days, first go through the motions of attempting to be gracious with their guest, to actually being concerned for her comfort had been more than they could have dared to dream. But seeing him now showing actual emotions, heavy as they were, was beginning to give them dangerous, blessed hope.

But they couldn’t tell the Captain that. Despite experiencing the changes, he’d seemed oblivious to them himself. So they’d done their best to calm him. Then help him clean up. Realizing that they should check on Peggy, DumDum popped up to her room only to return seconds later.

“She’s gone!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A cheat sheet of what the Commandos are:
> 
> Bucky – Zippo Ligther  
> Sam – Wire Cutters  
> Howard – Grenade  
> DumDum – Cricket Noisemaker  
> Gabe Jones - bundle light  
> Jim Morita - e-tool  
> Brit James Falsworth – Switchblade
> 
> And some more information on what what these survival tools did; https://www.wired.com/2012/06/d-day-paratrooper-gear-gadgets/


	7. Ice

Knowing the watchtower was going to be her best escape route, and not fancying the insanely long drop out of it, Peggy had made a makeshift ladder from the various linens she’d found in her rooms. She just hoped it was long enough to get her safely down. While the walking-talking, survival pack men were busy with the Captain, Peggy ran to her room to grab it before dashing to the tower.  

She’d moved the furniture about until she’d found a hook on the wall, which looked mounted solidly enough to support her weight on the way down. After securing the best knot she knew how to tie, Peggy beelined for the window.  
  
And that’s when she saw it. Glowing in the corner.

On a table, hidden under a glass dome, was some kind of golden object, giving off a gentle, soft light. She’d been drawn it like a moth to a flame. Moving closer, she could tell that whatever it was, was suspended in ice. Ice that didn’t seem to be melting. It took a moment to realize it was a compass because its face was nearly faded.

She reached out to pull the glass cover back to get a better look, when the Captain was suddenly at her side. “What are you doing here?” He screamed at her.

“I was- What is that?” Peggy asked.

“Don’t touch it! Get away from it. Get away from it now!” He bellowed at her, suddenly seeming to be much larger and bigger than he was. “Leave!!! Now!!!”

Taking it as an invitation, Peggy ran to the make-shift rope she’d set up and scrambled down the side of the fortress. Above her, she heard Sam and Bucky’s voices screaming at her to come back. Yelling that it was dangerous. But she’d paid them no heed, glad to make finally make her escape.

####

Peggy was maybe a half an hour out, when she’d first heard them. Wolves.

It was freezing and while Peggy had put extra layers on before attempting to make her great escape, it wasn’t enough. And the sweat she’d worked up running was chilling her even more. But after the sound of the nearby howls, Peggy realized that not knowing where she was and potential freezing to death might be the least of her immediate concerns.

Suddenly the air she was visibly puffing and her heavy breathing became a recrimination. Every step she’d taken seemed loud, when loud was not what she wanted to be. Peggy knew she was a hunted thing even before she saw them. She pulled her sidearm and a picked up a large stick to fight them off.

She fired a warning shot, which hadn’t frightened them at all, hungry and mangy and cold as they were, before changing her course to run across the frozen lake. She hoped they wouldn’t have the traction to follow. She’d shot four of them, taking them down. Then used her stick to trip another, but the odds and their number were still against her.

They’d skidded and slipped across the ice, but were still coming at her. Chasing her down. One made a tremendous leap for her, and Peggy knew that was it. Then the red, white and blue disk came flying out of nowhere, slamming into the wolf with enough force to kill.

The Captain came charging across the ice at her with more speed and power than his size conveyed. He slammed a fresh gun in her hand, before turning towards the wolves again. Back to back, they faced down the pack. Between her gun and his disk, they’d either fallen or scattered the predators in just a few minutes. 

The Captain and she had made one hell of a team, reacting to each other’s movements and fighting stance with a practiced ease that didn’t exist between them. Adrenaline-high and pleased at their performance, Peggy turned to face him, to say something quip, when the ice cracked beneath her. She went falling through into the freezing lake. The sharpness of the cold crushed her as she hit the water. It was like being stabbed with a thousand sharp needles.

The Captain reached in and pulled her out by her jacket’s lapels with only one hand, his face very close to hers. His breath warm on her skin. The fortress had always been dim and dark. While he’d been near her at times, he’d never gotten this close before. Near enough that it would take only a slight tilt of his head to kiss her.   
  
Maybe she was in shock, but through her chattering teeth, looking up at him Peggy said stupidly “Your eyelashes are ridiculously long,” before losing consciousness.

The Captain swung her up and carried her back into the fortress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've not been noting every version of B&B that I've been pulling elements from because that would make posting way too laborious. But I did want to give a nod to the version that I pulled Peggy's dash across the ice lake from. It's the 2014 French film La Belle et la Bête. 
> 
> It had a very limited run stateside, as I think the Mouse House knew they were doing their live action version then and made sure it was sort of locked out. If you've not seen it and you are a B&B fan, I highly recommend watching it. Firstly, it's stunningly beautiful. Secondly, it offers a fresh take on the tale that makes it well worth your time. I really enjoyed it and I think most B&B fans would too.


	8. Friend

Everything was a haze after Peggy transitioned from being so cold all she could do was shake to so hot with fever that ice melted quickly on her skin. Her memory of that time was faulty, but she did clearly recall the Captain taking care of her. Sitting by her bedside with a cold compress in hand, trying to get her to take water or broth. The whispers of the talking survival tools were hushed, but she could hear them talking about her illness and commenting on the Captain’s tending. They said something about the changes not mattering if she died.

When the fever finally broke, she woke to find the Captain beside her still, haggard looking but deeply relieved to see her eyes open and clear.

“I’m sorry.” Was the first thing he said to her, but she wasn’t clear on which of his transactions against her he was apologizing for. Even as exhausted as she was, she could feel the collective breath-holding of the Captain’s survival tool servants, waiting for her to make her reply.

“I’m sorry as well. I never meant to imply that nursing wasn’t hard and important work.” She said with a small smile. The Captain smiled back at her before she closed her eyes again and fell into a real and unfitful sleep for the first time in the fortress.

####

The games started because Peggy was bored while she was still convalescing. She was healthy and young, and she was on her feet again much sooner than she expected, but there were a few good days of bed rest and long naps. The Captain remained a constant presence during that time, somehow walking the line between hovering and being attentive.

She couldn’t remember it being in her rooms before, but when she admired a beautifully carved marble chessboard from her bed, the Captain asked her if she’d played. When she said that she did, he brought it over to the bed for them to have a game. She won that first match. When she checkmated him, she noticed Sam surge forward, putting his handle on the Captain’s skinny leg. But the Captain just eyed the board for any options of escape, smiled slightly and said, “Well played. Another game?” Sam nearly slid to the ground in relief that there hadn’t been one of his outburst.

Peggy was too tired to play again then, but they had another match later in the day. It went on longer. Peggy lost, but the Captain was surprisingly graceful in his victory. They moved on to other games from there: Cards, Chinese checkers, and a few board games. The Captain had a keen and strategic mind. She enjoyed their games together. If Peggy was honest, she enjoyed his company.

They never talked about her escape attempt or his sudden softening of temperament. And they most especially did not discuss why she was there to begin with. Through their conversations, she found him to be well-read, even as he let it slip he had a baseline education. He was funny and warm. Kind even, she thought watching him carry a tray of tea and biscuits to her one morning. Howard the grenade sat on his skinny shoulder chattering away insistently, while Steve made her a cup, just as she took it without her having to ask.

She enjoyed their time together so much that even when she was fully recovered, they continued on with their games. Sometimes they read aloud together and they started sharing meals other than dinner. If she pushed the war away, the work she knew she should be doing, out of her mind, it was easy to believe that she, perhaps, was happy at the fortress. Clearly respected and treated as an equal, she’d suddenly become part of the strange little group after her fall through the ice. And the prickly, angry man she met on arriving was seemingly replaced, by this new, kind, even shy, person.

But there was one mark on all of Peggy’s days that wore on her. After they finished their evening meal together and Peggy rose to return to her rooms, the Captain would always ask her to be his partner. And each evening, she told him no. It annoyed her at first, his constant asking. Then it pained her to tell him no again and again. But it was her true and honest answer. And unlike the first time he asked, the Captain seemed sad each night she gave her negative reply. And yet he never pushed. And never brought it up when they were together otherwise.

One evening, when she felt sick with having to tell him no once more, Peggy said, “I do wish you’d stop asking. I’ve come to consider you a friend, but that is all I have to give.”

“That’s nothing small,” The Captain told her with sorrow in his eyes, “your friendship. But I’m afraid I can’t help but keep asking. I’m very sorry, Margaret.”

“Peggy.” She corrected without really thinking. Realizing in that moment, that despite their budding friendship, she’d never told him her nickname.

“Peggy.” He repeated, “I like it. It suits you. I can call you that going forward?”  
  
“Only if I can call you something besides, Captain.”

It seemed a struggle for him to say, not painfully, but like he’d gone so long without using his name that he had difficulty recalling it. “Steve.”

“Steve.” She parroted, trying it on her tongue. “It suits you.”

He nodded. “Good night, Peggy. Sleep well.”

Since she came to the place, she felt various shifts between them. Changes in him more than her. Leaving the dining hall to return to her rooms, she felt another one. This one seemingly larger and more significant than any of the others that had come before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Often times in B&B stories, Belle and the Beast fall in love over books. And while I do think Peggy would be a voracious reader, there seemed to be something fitting to have her and Steve connect over games of strategy.


	9. Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I wasn't able to post last week. Life got in the way.

“It’s happening,” DumDum said, scurrying about the room, clicking merrily as he put things back in order.

"This morning, he offered to carry me across the lawn because it was damp and he didn’t want my circuits to get wet and short out,” Gabe said with glee, flashing his lights on and off. “The last time it rained, I got flooded out and couldn’t light up for nearly a month.”

“He oiled me without prompting so I wouldn’t rust. Again.” Sam chimed in, hopping up to clear some of the cobwebs that had gathered.

“Yes. Yes.” Morita added, “he’s been so much friendlier, so much kinder. He’s starting to be like he was before. We’re going to be human beings again before you know it!”

“No, we’re not,” Bucky snapped. He’d been sitting in the corner, darkly watching the Commandos fluttering about. “He’s only half the battle, remember? Even if he does love her…”

“If?” Sam snapped. “He’s shy of worshipping the ground she walks on. How could you fail to miss the moon eyes he makes at her? Cartoon hearts float around his head when they are in the same room.”

Bucky rolled his eyes, but didn’t deny it. “But it’s it not enough, is it? She has to feel the same way about him. And she’s clearly not there. That British reserve......”

“Is going to be easily breached,” Howard said, hopping about it a way that always made Bucky nervous as hell. “A few lessons from me and she’ll be head over heels.”

“A few lessons from you and she’ll be throwing her heels at his head,” Sam fired back. “I think we ought to just leave them be. Cap is becoming more and more like our old Cap every day. I think the best thing we can do is let nature take its course.”

“Then why are we setting them up for a date in here?” Howard asked.

“We’re not-” Sam tried to say.  

“Yeah, we are!” Howard said bombastically. “Mood lighting. Forced close togetherness.”

“Howard, it’s just a damn movie!” Sam retorted. 

####

 “Oh, and I’ve got one more brilliant idea!” Howard declared to his practically captive audience in Steve, who was seated in a barber’s chair, getting the closet shave he’d ever had in his life from Falsworth’s blade. “You should fondue.”

 “She’s a lady!” Steve snapped, outraged on Peggy’s behalf. “And even if we…if she…that wouldn’t activate the serum in me or change you all back.”

Hopping up on the makeshift barber’s counter to be closer to Steve’s eye level, Howard said with a smirk, “Fondue is just cheese and bread, my friend.”

“Really? I didn’t know. I mean, I didn’t think.....” Steve replied red faced with embarrassed. “Sorry.”

Another good sign. Before the gas and second serum, Steve had always gotten flustered about women, around women. He wasn’t naïve or uniformed, just inexperienced even after the serum had made him a virtual Adonis. Women had thrown themselves at him in mass, but Steve had never taken them up on any of their offers. Howard asked about it once, over drinks. And Cap had told him he was waiting for the “right partner.” The exact damn, cruel words of the curse. The twistedness of what had been done to them all could overwhelm even Howard, when he let himself think about it.  

Sighing, Steve looked in the mirror one last time. His hair was neat and he’d put on a tie, but he was still nearly as skinny as it. No woman had ever paid him any mind until the first serum had bulked him up. Not one. After was a different story, but before, his dates were doubles that Bucky always arranged. And they always ended quickly one way or another, after the woman had made it clear he wasn’t good enough.

But Peggy had never treated him like a lesser. Even at the beginning, she’d meet his eye and spoke to him like an equal. But as things changed between them, as Steve had felt himself change, he started to see how and smart and capable and strong Peggy truly was. And, of course, he wasn’t blind to her beauty. As much as he’d come to care for her, he knew she was out of his league. Would have been even when he was big. And were it not his friends whose very lives depend on this, he knew he’d lack to courage to even try.

He moved to the hall, taking a seat at the bar that had been part of the fortress for as long as they’d been there. Bucky hoped up on the counter next to him. Two drinks were already set out.

“Relax, Steve. You can do this.”

“Look, Bucky, I need to thank you and all the guys for sticking with me through this. I probably didn’t deserve it.”

“Hey,” Bucky said, “You always stood by us, so it was just our damn turn. We’re with you to the end.”

“Yeah, the second serum made damn sure of that.” Pulling at his collar nervously, Steve added, “Maybe if can at least remember how to be Captain America again, I can manage to not look like an idiot in front of her and give you all a chance.”

“Steve,” Bucky said, leaning closer to his friend. “Don’t try and be Captain America. That little guy from Brooklyn, who was too dumb not run away from a fight, that’s who we need right now.”

The sound of precise and strong steps made in heels ended their conversation, as Peggy appeared in a stunning red dress. She stood in the door way for a moment, the Commandos visible and speechless in the room behind her. Peggy was easily the prettiest girl Steve had ever seen, but now she looked like a movie star.

She walked over to them slowly, not noticing Bucky at all. “Steve.”

“Agent Carter.”

“Peggy,” She corrected.

“Peggy,” He repeated dumbly as she’d turned her head, glancing into the room that had been set-up for them. Bucky watched as Steve gave her the once over, clearly awestruck by her.

“Shall we?” She asked, nodding towards the makeshift theater.

Steve nodded, moving forward, but Peggy stopped him by asking, “Won’t you offer me your arm?”

The Commandos, who were watching with nervous jitters of their only, nearly surged forward in hope then joy as Steve extended his frail arm and Peggy took it.

####

“Did you like the movie?” Steve asked, moving to sit alongside her on the high wall. For once, the bizarre, magical weather of the place hadn’t frozen the night with snow and cold. It was a warm and pleasant evening. The flowers of the gardens below visible from their high perch in the moonlight.

“I adored it. I saw it with my brother when I was just barely past being a girl. It’s a lovely little mystery. But really it was Nick and Nora that I’ve always found so charming. Their ease and trust of each other is something rare and special I think.”

Steve nodded. Peggy hadn’t mentioned a brother before, so he asked about him and then felt guilty watching her face fall.

“The war?” Steve asked gently.

“Before the true fighting had begun,” Peggy said, looking away. “Michael was – my hero in so many ways. He taught me that I had value and that I was meant to fight. It’s not been an easy road for me. To have every door shut in my face, but..”

“If you stand up, push back, they can’t say no forever right?”

Peggy nodded and without really thinking said, “It had been an honor to serve.” She’d not meant it to be a sting, but Steve did note the past tense. He was keeping her here, away from her work, which he knew from Peggy was vital to the war effort. And vital to Peggy herself.

“Guess, you should get back to it,” He said quietly.

“What?” Peggy questioned.

“You should get back to your unit.”

“What? I? You’re letting me go?”

Steve nodded, swallowing hard, unable to speak.

“Thank you,” She said, popping up in clear excitement, ready to bolt to her room to change back into her uniform. But not so caught up in her own joy that she didn’t notice Steve pulling in on himself.

“You and your men-”

“Will be here when you win the war.” Voice shaky, he added, “Just as you left us.”

“I’ll come back,” Peggy said on impulse, but meaning it to her core. “We’ll celebrate the victory together. Maybe even going dancing.”

“I don’t know how,” He said flatly.

“You must have danced.”

He wanted to tell her, he’d been waiting for the right partner, but he couldn’t put that on her, so he just shook his head.

“I’ll teach you.” She told him firmly and gently at once.

“I wouldn’t want to step on your toes,” Steve said, having to look away from her, scared by the intensity of his feelings.

“I don’t think I’d mind it so much,” She told him with a tender look he didn’t see. “Just be here. I promise I’ll come back and I'll show you how.”

She’d deliberately reached out and took his hand, squeezing it with an intensity of feeling.

“It’s a date,” He lied, watching her turn to leave.

It was a beautiful thought. A beautiful promise. But Steve knew that once the compass faded and his old ailments took hold of him again, he likely not survive the next winter, let alone be around for the end of the war. Or that dance. Which wasn’t what upset him most. He knew Peggy’s return to action would likely save countless lives, but it would doom his friends. And he had to live with that, trading their humanity for stranger’s lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The movie I referenced is The Thin Man. It's a 1934 comedy-mystery that is part of a wonderful series. If you've not seen it, I highly recommend it. It felt like a good fit for Steve and Peggy.


	10. Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a previous chapter, I mentioned the 2014 French version of B&B as partly inspiring some of my scenes. Well, in good news, the movie that was previously hard to find is now on Netflix! I highly recommend checking it out if you are a B&B fan.

Peggy’s reappearance in camp made quite a stir. She’d not been listed as MIA, KIA or even AWOL. Until she returned, it was like everyone had just forgotten her existence. It was frankly bizarre. As was the Colonel and Roden being held in the brig.

No charged had been drawn up against them as far as Peggy could tell, despite weeks having passed since Peggy was gone. They were simply being kept under watch, with no end in sight and no clear rationale. Peggy was immediately escorted there to join them. At gun point.

For a mutiny, it all seemed very orderly and tidy.

After they were left to themselves, Phillips, in the closest thing he ever had to an emotional outburst, told her, “Carter, I am just so damn glad to see you.” If pressed he would have claimed the tears in his eyes were tricks of the light. “How did you escape?”

“I didn’t. He let me go.”

Phillips scoffed. “I find that difficult to believe.”

“I would have too, at first. But he’s changed somehow. He’s different than what he was when you and I both first saw him.”

Phillips looked at her skeptically.

“Colonel, I don’t think I need to tell you that something is amiss. A strong, small man? A fortress so close to the camp that we didn’t know about? This mutiny of holding you without charges?” Peggy shallowed hard before saying what was specifically on her mind. Or rather what had popped into it on the way back to camp: A forgotten hero from World War I. “Sir, do you remember the legend of Captain America?”

Philips started to shake his head to the negative, then paused. Peggy saw the exact moment the muddled memory sharpened. The same thing happened to her. Maybe the distance from the fortress had something to do with it. Or maybe it was the passage of time. Regardless, something had blocked her memories until she was on her way back to camp.

And Peggy had always prided herself on her ability to recall details. It helped her tremendously with her work. Her mind was a steel trap. And so was Philips. But it seemed that somehow they’d both been made to forget. Their memories fogged over like gas across a battlefield. Which is exactly what had happened the famed red, white and blue war hero.

Sickly as a child, the Captain had agreed to some kind of experiment that not only saved his life, but gave him superhuman strength. When the States jumped into the Great War, he’d been a major element in turning the tide. His name was Steven Rogers and his supposed death had made headlines. It made him a legend.

He and his men had been gassed by a rogue leader calling himself the Red Skull. The Red Skull was notorious for his work with gases during the war. He developed several horrible kinds that masks proved to offer no protection from. He killed thousands of men. The Captain and his team had stopped him. But it had cost them their lives, or so the lore went.

There’d been witnesses when the gas had enveloped the Captain and his team, a unit called the Howling Commandos. The gas that the Red Skull hit them with literary set the battlefield on fire. It was assumed the Captain and his men had perished it. Their bodies presumed destroyed by the flames, they’d all been listed as KIA and honored as heroes post-mortem.

But the Captain and his men hadn’t been killed. Somehow, Peggy had just spent the last few weeks with them, altered as they all were. Yet, for some reason, she couldn’t remember their tale in their presence. Something had blocked her ability to recall the story of Captain America and his Howling Commandos.

Putting it all together himself, Phillips met Peggy’s gaze and asked, “Just what the hell is going on?”

“More than meets the eye, Colonel. Clearly,” A German accented voice said from the entrance way, yet it was Hodge that walked through the door.

“Private Hodge, if I find out-” The Colonel started to boom, but when Hodge stepped further into the holding area, something was clearly wrong with his face.

“Hodge is just one of the many names I’ve gone by over the years. You both know me best perhaps by the name I use most now: Johann Schmitt. But I live in legend by a different moniker,” He continued, reaching his hand towards his chin. He pulled his face off like it was a mask, revealing himself as the Red Skull.

Both Peggy and Philips were momentarily stunned. The monster of WWI, presumed dead, was also their greatest foe in the war they were currently fighting. It shouldn’t be possible. And yet there it was.

“It seems that the Captain has unintentionally done me a favor,” Hodge, Schmitt, The Red Skull said, tossing a metal canister in his hand menacingly. “When I first heard rumor of the Captain’s survival, you can imagine I was a little put out. Especially, since it was Dr. Erskine who had once again interfered with my plans.”

“My original intention at your camp was to collect intelligence on you and Agent Carter directly, Colonel. You both have been the most problematic and persistent of my adversaries. I was looking for a way to remove you both from the equation in a way that was not just permanent, but would also destroy all of your work against me. But after you stumbled across my old foe, let’s just say, you provided me an opportunity to vanquish two enemies with one blow.”

Turning directly to face Peggy, the Skull continued, “When I first got wind of the Captain’s predicament,t I gassed your entire camp during the Colonel’s first absence. I didn’t need you or your band of do gooders to remember who the Captain was and try to help him. So I kept regassing the camp from time to time, keeping the memory of the Captain at bay. And to make your soldiers susceptible to my commands.”  

 “To what end?” Peggy asked.

The man’s horrifying face pulled into the ugliest sneer she had ever seen in her life. “Why to deliver the biggest blow to your war effort and moral possible, my dear, Agent Carter. When this next round of gas wears off from your unit, and they find that they have killed the hero of the first war, imagine what that will do to their minds and their spirits? How it will read in the papers. What it will mean on the Homefront to know that your brave men in arms killed a man that once embodied your nation.”

Peggy surged forward at the bars in anger, “You’ll never get away with this!”

“Temper, temper, please. Such an ugly outburst is hardly befitting a lady.” Stepping closer still, the Skull gave Peggy a solid look over, from head to toe. She shot him a death glare.

“I can see how you would be a match, yes. What a shame. You could have saved him and you never understood how.”

Starting to back away from the cell towards the door, the hideous, hateful man said, “What a thing to weigh on you, young woman, when you wake-up and finally piece it all together.” He then twisted a knob on the canister he was holding and dropped it in the center of the room. “Have a pleasant sleep. I imagine you'll think you are in a nightmare when you finally wake.”

Choking gas enveloped Peggy, the Colonel, and Roden within seconds, as the Red Skull turned and walked away.

Instinctually, Peggy pulled off her neck scarf and held it over her face. Just how much the silk protected her was surprising. Her eyes watered and teared, but she didn’t lose consciousness, like the Colonel and Private, who had no protection at all. If the Skull had half a brain, he would have taken the scarf from her. But like most men, he didn’t give a woman and her accessories, or more importantly how they could be used, any real thought.  

She waited until the gas cleared. Then despite her hurry, waited longer still to be safe, before lowing the scarf from her eyes. She kept it over her mouth and nose though, and tied it to the back of her head to keep them covered.  

After checking to make sure that the Coronel and the Private had strong pulses and were breathing on their own, Peggy removed their tie clamps. She bent and twisted them until they could be used to pick the cell lock. Upon freeing herself, Peggy found the entire camp deserted. No doubt her entire unit was on their way to the Captain’s fortress, under the influence of the Red Skull’s gas.

Peggy ran to the motorcade and hopped on a bike. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew if she could reach the Captain and his men, they could find a way to stop the Red Skull. Together.


	11. Mob

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting, but I'm going to finish the story off by posting the last 2 chapters at once!

“That’s it then,” Falsworth said dejectedly. “We’re going to be army surplus for the rest of our lives.”

“Maybe not,” Morita chimed in. “There’s still time. The compass hasn’t completely faded yet. She could come back.”

“Wars last years,” DumDum said darkly. “Even if she plans to come back, we don’t have the time.”

“How the hell could he do this?” A drunken Howard said from the corner. “I thought he was getting better.”

“Oh, I’d say he’s back to his old self entirely,” Sam said. “If he had just sacrificed himself, he would have just been devastated. But he really believed that letting her go could save hundreds, maybe thousands, of lives. And because it cost us ours in the bargain, it may have damn well broken him.”

“He may not be wrong there,” Falsworth offered, “that young woman is something quite extraordinary.”

There was collective nodding.

“There’s no doubt about it then,” Gabe Jones said, “our Cap is back.”

More nodding all around.

“It’s just a crying shame that wasn’t enough to restore us all,” Falsworth said.

“How long do we have do you think?” DumDum asked, topping off everyone’s drinks.

“I don’t suppose long. The compass is so hard to read now,” Gabe noted. 

There was a long silence, which Sam finally broke by raising his glass. “It’s been an honor serving with all of you.”

They clicked their glasses and meet each other’s eyes over the toast. If they were a little moist in sadness, nothing was said.

####

Bucky felt his place was at Steve’s side. The others agreed that crowding him just then wasn’t the way to go, but that he shouldn’t be left alone either. As his oldest friend, Bucky had offered to be the one to stay with him. Although Steve hadn’t said much since apologizing profusely to Bucky and all the Commandos, again and again, for letting Peggy go, and condemning them to remain in their inhuman form.

Bucky assured Steve that he'd done the right thing for the greater good, but he knew his friend was well and truly back to being himself when that offered him no comfort.

“It’s wasn’t your fault, you know,” Bucky finally said, daring to break the silence. Knowing that his friend’s mind had drifted back to that fateful battle all those years ago, where Steve hadn’t been able to prevent them from being gassed. “What that monster did to us.”

“Bucky, you know that’s not true. You were there. The Red Skull—I could and should have found another way than this. And kept you all safe.”

“You did everything you could.”

Steve violently shook his head.

“Do you believe in us, Steve? Do you respect us?”

That snapped Steve’s head around. “Of course, I do.”

“Then stop blaming yourself. Allow us the dignity of our choice. We all thought you were worth it. And we have no regrets.”

“Bucky–” Steve began, but loud pounding from outside the fortress walls cut him off.

They both moved to the window and looked down.

“Invaders!” Bucky cried.

“It can’t be. That’s Peggy’s unit,” Steve said with his keen eyesight, noting the various insignias on the troop’s lapels despite the height and distance from them.

“The Red Skull,” Steve said in shocked anger when he saw who was leading the mob. Steve reached for his shield, standing straight, tall, eagle-eyed. Despite his small and frail stature, he looked almost exactly like the man Bucky and the other Commandos had followed into battle during the first war.

Springing up himself, Bucky exclaimed, “But he’s dead!”

“Apparently, not. Come on. We’ve got to rally the troops.”

####

By the time Peggy made it back to the fortress, the fighting had already begun. And despite being out manned, out gunned and outsized, Steve and his rag tag crew of objects were more than holding their own.

Men from her unit were scattered about on the ground. Some injured. Some stunned. Some unconscious. But of those able to talk, Peggy noticed some confused looks and wide-eyes. When she stopped to question them, she realized that they didn’t know where they were or what happened, leaving Peggy to conclude that the gas was wearing off.

If she could make it inside, and somehow prevent the Red Skull from regassing everyone, she could stop this whole mess. But running through the open gate of the fortress, she knew that was going to be easier said than done.

Sam was poking a man, who was flaring DumDum around to hear him click, directly in the butt. The man screamed like a cartoon character and dropped DumDum , before taking off running.  Bucky, meanwhile, was burning the hands of someone trying to unpin Howard. Peggy grabbed one of the heavy vases off the floor and whacked the soldier upside the head.

“Carter!” Howard said, righting himself as he the ground, “You a part of this bizarre suicide attempt, too?”

“No,” Peggy said, ducking as a solider came at her, before turning to do a spin kick that sent him tumbling backward. “The entire unit was gassed by the Red Skull. These men aren’t here on any orders or their own volition. Schmitt – Hodge – the Skull dosed them with something that made them susceptible to his commands. But the gas seems to wearing off. At least on the men outside. If we can prevent them from being regassed-”

Peggy hadn’t even been able to even finish her thought before Morita knocked a soldier upside the head, who’d been trying to release a gas canister into the crowd. Peggy and the other Commando’s quickly scattered about, searching for and then disarming the men with the canisters.

“Where’s the Captain?” Peggy asked Jones, as he flicked his light directly in the eyes of a solider, temporally blinding him and allowing Peggy to pull the gas canister from his grasp.

“I’m not sure,” Morita said, suddenly looking about. “He was with us when all these shenanigans got underway.”

“Better question might be, where’s the Red Skull?” Falsworth chimed in from his positon against a soldier's throat. That solider then handed over his gas canister to Sam without much fuss.

Having a terrible feeling about it, Peggy took down one more gas-addled solider by kicking his legs out from under him, before she turned to run upstairs. “Finish getting the canisters from them. The effects of their first dosing can’t last much longer. Try to hurt as few of them as possible in the meantime.”

“Hey, you can’t give us orders!” Bucky shouted.

“Of course, I can,” Peggy said with a grin. “I’m an agent of the SSR.”  

####

It didn’t take much effort for Peggy to find the Captain and the Red Skull. They were in a heavy engagement in the watch tower. Peggy’d seen more than her fair share of fighting, but even for her, watching two supermen hit each other head-on was a sight to behold. Whatever had been done to the Captain in terms of physical appearance, certainly hadn’t taken away his physical strength. The two men were literally leaving dents in the walls as they each tried to get the upper hand.

They thrashed about, until Steve noticed her.

“Peggy!” He said, voice thick with emotion, “You came back.”

His focus on her was all the distraction the Red Skull needed to get some running force. Lunging at the Captain, he sent both of them crashing out the window and down the tremendous drop.

“No!” She screamed, watching them both hit the ground with tons of force. But she was shocked silent, as they both stood up and started fighting again, as if they’d taken nothing worse than a tumble.

#####

By the time Peggy’s normal, human legs managed to run down the steps, through the fortress and the fighting happening there, and out after them, the two men had worked their way to the lake Peggy had fallen through. The Captain and Schmitt had turned it into a nightmare of floating ice chunks, bouncing and bobbing in the freezing cold water.

Peggy drew her weapon to take aim at the Skull, but there was too much motion for her to get a clear shot. Both men were throwing each other, and large chunks of ice, around like rag dolls. And Peggy didn’t want to risk hitting Steve.

So she was forced to hold her ground and watch as the Red Skull got the upper hand and knocked Steve over, before holding his face under the freezing cold water. The floating ice made it hard for Peggy to take aim, but once she had a decent shot, she fired without hesitation.

The Skull’s grip on Steve instantly relaxed. He turned to face Peggy, thus not seeing the large floating ice chunk coming at him from the side. It rammed into him, knocking him over into the lake, which turned as red with his blood as his face. His body was pulled under one of the chunks and eventually stopped thrashing.

But all Peggy could see was the Captain still lying on his ice sheet, deathly still.

Peggy couldn’t know that back in the Fortress, the golden compass’s face had just faded completely away. Hell, in her blind panic to reach Steve, she didn’t even notice his men running up behind her. She lept and jumped and ran over the ice chunks to reach him.

With pure adrenaline and good luck, she managed to make her way to the Captain’s limp body without falling into the freezing water herself. “Captain? Captain?” Peggy cried in desperation trying to rouse him, “Steve!”

Nothing. No response.

The ice chunk they were floating on was beginning to break apart. So, Peggy made to lift him up, realizing that she had no trouble doing so.  Peggy was able to carry him as if he was nothing more than a child.  

She moved him safely to land and started CPR, but Steve was still not coming around.  

She finally noticed his men shuffling about behind them, but she didn’t turn look at them, as she rested her head on Steve’s small chest, weeping. “Please, Steve. Steve. Oh my darling, my love, you owe me a dance.”

Around her, the Commandos lowered their collective heads. The soldiers from Peggy’s unit began gathering as well. Freed from the effects of the gas, many of them took off their helmets, placing them over their hearts in respect.

So quietly that no one could have heard, Peggy said, nearly unintelligible, through her tears, “You’re my right partner.”

Sudden motion had Peggy pulling back in surprise. The Captain’s body lifted from the ground as if by magic, floating in the air above her. Peggy stood as red, white and blue lights sparked from nowhere, blinding her. She turned her head away from it, shielding her eyes with her arm.

Once the brightness passed, once she dared to look again, Peggy turned back and saw a tall, broad, blonde man where Steve had been. She recognized him right away. He was Captain America from all the old war propaganda posters and films.

When he reached out to touch her, Peggy jumped back. The sadness on his face, the hurt, was heartbreaking, and yet Peggy still found herself coiling in.

“I’m sorry,” Steve began stupidly, with so much to apologize for he wasn’t quite sure where to truly begin. “I never meant-”

“I liked you as you were, you know,” Peggy told him, firmly, lower lip quivering in a way she didn’t much care for. Reaching out, she placed her hand on his chest, feeling its warmth and the motion of his breath. “All big heart and long eyelashes.”

It was Steve’s turn to swell up with emotion. “I’m not really sure what to say or do here. I’ve never had much idea of how to talk to women.”

“Then don’t talk,” Peggy said, stepping forward into his embrace, pulling him by the hooks on his battle suit down into a searing kiss.

For Steve, it like a warm drinking removing a chill from his bones. For his friends, it was like an explosion. The Commandos jumped and twisted and spun about, as arms and legs and faces replaced handles, lids, and pins.

Howard was naturally the one to ruin the moment, slapping Steve so hard on the back that his teeth rattled against Peggy’s. He turned his head to snap at Howard, but seeing his friends, as his friend again, Steve couldn’t help but burst out laughing with joy.

Then lifting Peggy up, he spun her around in delight. So Peggy saw the real faces of his men, his commandos, his friends for the first time as a blurry whirl. She laughed too, then pulling on Steve’s lapels, guided his lips down to hers once again.

“I’ve waited a long time,” he told her when they finally broke for air, suddenly quiet and earnest despite the good cheer and revelry going on about them. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to call in that dance, even if I step on your toes.”

Peggy just smiled up at him, “And I told you, I’d teach you. I’m just so glad that you’re here to dance with. So glad that you’re safe.”

“And sound? And strong? And a solider again?”

Shaking her head vigorously, Peggy told him truly, “No. that you’re a good man again. And that you’re that before your anything else.”


	12. Dance

Steve swung Peggy around the room again. Her gold skirt whipping about, making it look like they’d been dancing together for years with practiced ease. But when he pulled Peggy back into him, she watched his lips move and his eyes unfocused.

“Steve,” She chided, “Are you counting?”

Blushing all over, he nodded. “Well, you said that’s all dancing was. Countin'.’”

Peggy laughed a little. “Yes, but it’s no fun if you’re more focused on the steps than your partner.”

“I agree. But Peggy, I really don’t want to crush your toes.”

“Let me lead then, so you can direct your attention to where it belongs. I’ll be subtle about it.”

“I don’t really care if you’re subtle about it or not, Peg,” Steve told her in his usual wide-eyed honesty. “I’m happy to let anyone know I’d follow you anywhere.”

Despite herself, Peggy felt flushed with pleasure. “Even back to the SSR? Taking orders from me?”

“I thought you were gonna give this new operation of yours a different name, Director Carter?”

“I was, but I haven’t had much time to muse on it.”

“Well, you take over this dance then, and I’ll start throwing some ideas at you.”

Steve then let Peggy widen her stance a bit and redirect them both, swirling them about and passed Sam and Bucky, who’d been standing on the outskirts of the floor.

“They look happy,” Sam said with a smile.

“Not as happy as I am to have two arms again,” Bucky said, watching his lifelong friend grin like an idiot at his girl.

“But not nearly as happy to have both hands back as Stark,” Phillips said, as he came up alongside them, gesturing toward Howard who was attempting to use both of those hands on one of Phillips’ secretaries. “Been meaning to talk to you boys about the new division we’ve got underway.”

“The one Carter’s in charge of?” Sam asked.

At the Colonel’s nod, Bucky scoffed. “Jez, we were turned into talking equipment during one war and just finished the next. Can’t you give us any breezing room?”

“Now you boys know better than most, the world doesn’t work that way,” Philips said sagely. “All it takes for evil to gain the upper hand is for good men to sit idly by and let it.”

“Or to lose their course a bit,” DumDum said, joining them.

“Which is why you always need a compass,” Phillips noted, looking very deliberately at Peggy, “to help guide you back in the direction you should be heading.”  
  
He’d taken a lot of guff about Peggy’s placement as head of whatever the SSR was morphing into. Hearing from the brass for hours on end that she was too young and, more loudly, that she was too female. But Phillips held his ground. He knew which way was forward.

“We’d be reporting to those two love sick morons?” Bucky asked.

“Yup,” Phillips said dryly. “It will be a test to see how much sap your stomachs can take.”

“Sign me up,” Gabe said with enthusiasm, joining them as well.

“Sign us all up," Morita chimed in, raising his glass. The others followed suit.

“To the new Director and the Captain.” They said, clicking their drinks. “May they always keep us pointed true North.”

Peggy and Steve swirled by again, not noticing that the song had changed and picked up in tempo. They were too lost in each other and their own beat.

 “I’m glad we got our dance,” Steve said, smiling down at Peggy.

“I’m glad that we’ll get ever so much more than that, my darling.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who took the time to read the story. I'm CotyCat82 over on tumblr and would love to connect with you there.


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